Streets of Philadelphia
|} "Streets of Philadelphia" is a song written and performed by American rock musician Bruce Springsteen for the film Philadelphia (1993), an early mainstream film dealing with HIV/AIDS. Released in 1994, the song was a hit in many countries, particularly Canada, France, Germany, Ireland and Norway, where it topped the singles charts. The song was a critical triumph and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song and four Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year, Best Rock Song, Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo, and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. History In early 1993, Philadelphia director Jonathan Demme asked Springsteen to write a song for the in-progress film, and in June, after the conclusion of the "Other Band" Tour, Springsteen did so. It was recorded with Springsteen supplying almost all of the instrumentation, with bass and background vocals from "Other Band" member Tommy Sims. Additional saxophone and vocal parts by Ornette Coleman and "Little" Jimmy Scott, respectively, were recorded but never used—although those elements are used in a brief scene in the film when Tom Hanks exits Denzel Washington's office. Released in early 1994 as the main single from the film's original soundtrack, it became a huge success for Springsteen all over Europe and North America. "Streets of Philadelphia" achieved greater popularity in Europe than in the United States. While it peaked at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, it became a number-one single in Germany, France and Austria. It peaked at number two in the United Kingdom, becoming Springsteen's highest charting hit in that country, and number four in Australia. As of 2012, "Streets of Philadelphia" ranks as his most recent top ten hit. The song was included on the album All Time Greatest Movie Songs, released by Sony in 1999. Live performance history Because of the song's sterling achievements in the awards world, Springsteen played the song live in three high-visibility, prime-time awards show broadcasts: at the 66th Academy Awards in March 1994, at the MTV Video Music Awards in September 1994, and at the Grammy Awards of 1995 in March 1995. Between this, Philadelphia's strong box office performance, and the single being a Top 10 pop hit, "Streets of Philadelphia" became one of Springsteen's best-known songs to the general music audience. Nonetheless, Springsteen went on to perform the song only sparingly in his own concerts. In solo guitar form and missing the song's trademark synthesizers-and-drums feel, it was performed semi-regularly on the solo and stark 1995-1997 Ghost of Tom Joad Tour. After that, the song became a rarity, only appearing a dozen times on the 1999-2000 E Street Band Reunion Tour, and, as of September 2006, only a couple of times across the three tours after that. Awards won *Academy Awards **Academy Award for Best Original Song *Golden Globe Awards **Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song *Grammy Awards **Song of the Year **Best Rock Song **Best Male Rock Vocal Performance **Best Song Written for a Motion Picture *MTV Video Music Awards **Best Video from a Film Charts Peak positions Year-end charts Certifications James Harrison version |} In 2014 British pop singer James Harrison covered the song for his 2014 EP ''Rock Covers ''it was one of four promotional singles. It was released as a promotional single on the same day as the album and the other three promotional singles. It debuted at number 24 on the UK singles chart and not 87 on the ''Billboard ''Hot 100, before peaking at number 2 in the UK and number 4 in the US. Critical Reception The song was the best recieved song from the album being regarded as better than the original. Many critics called it one of the stand out performances of his entire career it also recieved some of the best reviews of his career. Charts Certifications